The hard problem of consciousness - A perspectives from holistic philosophy II

Natural science is founded on materialism. As scientists delve deeper into the microscopic level, paradoxes related to consciousness emerge. The phenomena revealed by biology and physics suggest that we cannot regard the subject and object (or the inner and outer) as independent; rather, they are inseparable. Science takes falsifiability as its gold standard, yet inner experiences seem subjective and cannot be scientifically described. Therefore, there is still a lack of an experimental model to scientifically prove the mutual transformation between the inner and outer. The accumulation of theoretical models provides valuable insights into the nature of consciousness. However, these theoretical models and viewpoints seems independent of each other and even exhibit some contradictions. Thus, a mature theory of consciousness remains to be further developed. In a previous article, we proposed that holism is a potential solution to reconcile the dilemmas of consciousness. According to holism, different cognitive perspectives reveal different aspects of objective laws. From the materialism that relies on the third-person perspective, we can describe the physical characteristics of an object, where objects interact through exchange of particles, and we establish a causality based on space-time. In contrast, the holistic properties of things/events or inner experiences can be described from a relatively hidden first-person perspective. Where things/events mutual enhancement or mutual inhibition through abstract holistic interactions, as the inner and outer are interdependent, this interaction do not need the participation of physical medium, forming a holistic causal relationship shows nonlocality. Holism and materialism exhibit implicit and explicit characteristics, respectively. Although they superficially antagonistic, they are functionally complementary. This generalized complementary principle based on holism applies to reconcile the controversies in quantum theory and a proof of the theory of quantum consciousness. Holism provides a solution to coordinate the divergence between different viewpoints of consciousness, it enables the interpretation of consciousness-related phenomena in different disciplines within a unified theoretical framework. To validate the assumptions based on the Taiji principles, we propose an experimental model to demonstrate that the holistic interaction from the first-person perspective is also an objective effect that influences the occurrence of reality.